oil and gas

The UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved a ban on Friday of ships’ use and carriage of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters after July 1, 2024. However, since it includes exemptions and waivers — loopholes — a complete HFO ban would only come into effect in mid-2029.

Donald Trump’s administration is bulldozing through a last-minute gas and oil drilling-rights auction in Alaska’s 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Biden vowed to block oil exploration in the largest national wildlife refuge in the country.

China plans to require that all new cars sold after 2035 be eco-friendly “new energy vehicles” according to Nikkei Asia. The plans were announced in a future road map for new energy vehicles and will be regulated under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The specifics of the plan state that as of 2035, 50% of new cars sold in the country will be either electric, plug-in hybrid, or fuel cell vehicles, and 50% of new cars will be conventional hybrids, which still run entirely on gasoline.

Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), the two largest US energy firms, have increased their share of campaign donations to Democrats in 2020, according to the latest filings.

• Royal Dutch Shell will cut up to 9,000 jobs by 2022 due to the pandemic and lack of oil demand.
• Turntide’s Smart Motor System has the potential to reduce global electricity consumption by 25%.
• Sustainable technology company Furrion launches a solar cooler that also packs a charging station.
• Arcadia Power is committed to making clean energy work for the planet and your bank account — all without changing your utility company. Sign up to receive your $20 Amazon Gift Card.

Norway announced today that it will finance 16.8 billion kroner (US$1.8 billion) out of an estimated total investment of 25.1 billion kroner for the world’s first full-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.

The project is named Longship after the Viking ships.

BP stated in a forecast published today that oil may have reached its peak due to the pandemic and that renewables will take the place of fossil fuels.

The Japanese MV Wakashio, owned by the Nagashiki Shipping Company and operated by Mitsui OSK Line, has spilled oil off the Mauritius coast after hitting a reef near the Blue Bay Marine Park on July 25. This is Mauritius’ first oil spill, a country with a population of 1.3 million people.

In its first corporate sustainability report, the federally owned utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) says it’s on track to reduce emissions by 70% below 2005 levels by 2030.

But on Monday, Donald Trump fired two members of its board of directors, including its chair, on the grounds that it’s hiring low-cost foreign labor. The TVA says that’s not true. So what’s really going on?

Starting this month, a one-time upfront registration fee of $100 will be charged for 2020 model year plug-in vehicles in California. That will be followed by an annual registration fee of up to $175 based on the vehicle’s value. The Golden State is by far the biggest market for electric vehicles in the United States.

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On July 6, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) shut down. The court said it should be drained by August 5 and the government would conduct a rigorous environmental review.

But its owner, Energy Transfer LP, a Dallas-based company run by billionaire Kelcy Warren, refuses to do so. In fact, it’s accepting requests for oil space on the pipeline in August.

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British Gas has ordered 1,000 of the new Vauxhall electric Vivaro-e vans for its engineers — the largest EV order for a commercial fleet in the UK. They’ll arrive over the next 12 months.

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Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. are canceling the $8 billion, 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The natural gas pipeline was to run 600 miles from West Virginia, through Virginia, to eastern North Carolina.

Duke Energy Corp has a net zero by 2050 goal in accordance with the Paris Accords. However, the reason for killing the pipeline is not environmental; it’s because of anticipated legal delays driving up costs.

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A research team at DeSmog has debunked the messaging of an organization that calls itself the “Transportation Fairness Alliance.” It proclaims itself to be in favor of “competitive and equitable transportation,” but it’s actually a powerful, anti-EV, pro-fossil-fuel lobbying group.

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Oil giant BP will cut 15% of its workforce, Reuters exclusively reports today. This is a result of the coronavirus impact on the economy, and also CEO Bernard Looney’s plan to shift the fossil-fuel company to green energy, it said today.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin of Russia declared a state of emergency in a region of northern Siberia after a huge oil spill last week turned a river crimson. It is threatening significant damage to the Arctic region.

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What do you think of when you think of Houston and energy? Oil and gas, probably. But did you know that Houston buys more green energy than any other city in the US?

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The March US coronavirus stimulus package, the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, featured the Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). But Big Oil and Gas, most of which are valued well over the $2 million threshold, received at least $72 million total.

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Replacing gas with electric appliances in California homes would prevent around 350 premature deaths each year and produce $3.5 billion in annual health benefits from cleaner air. This is according to new research from UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health for the Sierra Club on gas-fueled home appliances and their effect on air quality.

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For weeks, we’ve been hearing that plummeting oil prices and dirt-cheap gasoline will kill electric vehicles. Now it appears the oil industry is the one whose future is in question. So, of course, President Trump is plotting a big bailout for Big Oil.

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